Bolton Wanderers 0-0 Arsenal: Gunners slip to seventh after fourth-straight game without a win

Posted Thursday, February 02, 2012 by YAHOO Sport

Arsenal was left frustrated by Bolton as the two drew 0-0 at the Reebok Stadium and left the Gunners missing out on vital points once more.

The visitors dropped a place on Tuesday as a result of Liverpool’s win over Wolves and needed one of their own to reclaim fifth place. However, dogged defending and a lack of clinical effort up front had Arsene Wenger’s men biting at the bit.

It was the visitors who took the impetus of being the stronger outfit to dominate the early moments of the match and they created two good chances to go ahead in the first 10 minutes.

Van Persie was the first to test Adam Bogdan with a header that evaded the ‘keeper and had to be cleared from the line. Aaron Ramsey was next up with a sliding effort that was collected easily by the man replacing Jussi Jaaskelainen.

David Ngog then proceeded to show how much of a threat he could be with two of his own efforts. The initial chance forced a commanding save from Wojciech Szczesny after turning a poor Laurent Koscielny to open himself up to goal. The Frenchman was not deterred and tried again after Gretar Steinsson got himself high up on the pitch to make an audacious flick to the former Liverpool striker who placed the ball towards far corner with the ‘keeper beaten, but the shot dribbled wide disappointingly.

Arsenal kept optimistic in breaking Bolton down before the break, but dogged defending from the hosts meant for a stubborn battle in the Trotters’ third and the Gunners found it hard to get even the slightest sight of goal. The hosts meanwhile were far from shy to go on the offensive and the men on the flanks offered Owen Coyle’s side good outlets for attacking play.

After the break, Arsenal came out fighting and continuously ambushed the Bolton defense with crosses and passes through the middle for the waiting Van Persie. However, the Trotters were not letting the Gunners have it easy, standing tall at the back and clearing everything the visitors could throw at them.

Van Persie finally had his next big chance of the game after being handed the ball just a yard out, but the Dutchman was left frustrated by his effort that banged off the post and out of danger.

Bolton remained resilient of Arsenal and forced the London into a less than desired result and more points away from the leading pack after failing to win its fourth successive league match.